GREEN-WINGED TEAL 

 ( Anas crecca ) 



[DA: Krikand, DU: Wintertaling , EN: Teal, FI: Tavi, FR: Sarcelle d'hiver, GE: 

 Krickente, IC: Urtond, IT: Alzavola, JA: Kogamo , NW: Krikkand , PO: Cyranoeczka, 

 PR: Marreco, RU: (Whistling Teal), SP: Cerceta de alas verdes, Cerceta coraun; 

 SW: Kricka, US: European Teal] 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION 



The North American subspecies of the Green-winged Teal (A. c_. carolinen - 

 sis) breeds from northern Alaska and the western Mackenzie District east to the 

 southern Hudson Bay region, northern Quebec, Labrador, and Newfoundland; south 

 to California, the northern Great Basin, Colorado, central Nebraska, western 

 Minnesota, and southern Ontario and Quebec, with small disjunct populations out- 

 side this general range (AOU 1957, Bellrose 1976, Palmer 1976a). Scattered re- 

 cords indicate Green-winged Teal formerly bred regularly in the northeastern 

 United States. In winter the species occurs from southern British Columbia 

 south through the southern two-thirds of the United States to the Atlantic sea- 

 board, through Mexico and Central America to northern South America, and in the 

 West Indies. A Eurasian subspecies breeds widely across northern Europe and 

 Asia, wintering in southern Europe, northern Africa, and southeastern Asia 

 (Cramp et al. 1977). A third subspecies is resident in the western Aleutians 

 (AOU 1957). 



The Green-winged Teal is a common winter bird in all the southeastern 

 states to central Florida (Map 10). Bellrose (1976) estimated that the 55,000 

 present in South Carolina represent about 70% of the birds wintering along the 

 southern Atlantic coast. More than half the wintering birds in the United 

 States may be found in the Mississippi Flyway, and some 600,000 of those util- 

 ize the coastal marshes and ricefields of Louisiana (Bellrose 1976). 



SUSCEPTIBILITY TO OIL POLLUTION 



Although primarily a bird of fresh water and inland ponds and lakes, Green- 

 winged Teal frequently winter in coastal marshes and estuarine areas in the 

 southeastern United States, particularly along the Gulf shores of Louisiana and 

 Texas. Chabreck (1973) documented oil spill damage to coastal ponds of the type 

 used by this species in Louisiana, and showed that use of these ponds by water- 

 fowl was significantly less than in un-oiled areas. In addition, Vereschagin 

 (1946 in Vermeer and Vermeer 1974) reported that this teal ( Anas c. crecca ) is 

 one of the most affected species inland in Azerbaidzhan. This suggests that 

 serious damage to Green-winged Teal could occur if oiling in coastal marsh areas 



Taxonomic note: The American Green-winged Teal ( Anas crecca carolinensis) was 

 not regarded by the AOU as a full species ( Anas carolinensis ) until 1973. 



165 



